According to a Develop survey, 30 percent of game developers claim Nintendo guru Shigeru Miyamoto as their "ultimate development hero."

And no, "Ultimate Development Hero" is not Activision's newest property. Just throwing that out there.

A survey of over 9,000 (no, seriously) game developers from around the world by industry publication Develop asked them to name the industry figure that they considered to be their hero. A whopping 30% - that's about 3,000, for those doing the math at home - answered Shigeru Miyamoto, best known as the father of some of Nintendo's most timeless series, such as Mario and the Legend of Zelda.

Really, is anybody surprised? Develop sure isn't. "It's no surprise that Miyamoto-san is the development hero of developers - over the last thirty years he has created games that have not only driven the evolution of the games industry but also changed people's lives," said Andy Lane, managing director of the Brighton, UK-based Develop conference. "He has mastered the art of developing titles that are innovative but never at the cost of gameplay: games that are ground breaking, yet still mass market."

Following Miyamoto at #2 was John Carmack, the man who pioneered the FPS genre all but single-handedly. Maxis founder Will Wright, creator of SimWhatever, The Sims, and Spore took 3rd, while Briton Dave Jones - founder of Realtime Worlds, and creator of Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto placed fourth. Rounding out the top five was Sid Meier, creator of, well, the Sid Meier's Civilization series. Meier was the second person ever to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame - right after Shigeru Miyamoto.

The rest of the top ten is hardly surprising, either: Peter Molyneux, the man who is the picture-perfect definition of "dream big," Elite and Tycoon series creator David Braben, PaRappa the Rapper father Masaya Matsuura, Blizzard pioneer Mike Morhaime, and indie darling Jonathan Blow.

""t's no surprise that Miyamoto-san is the development hero of developers - over the last thirty years he has created games that have not only driven the evolution of the games industry but also changed people's lives,"

curlycrouton:I'm glad Sid Meier's there, although I reckon he should be top of the list. He's a veritable genius.

In concurrence.

Also what has the Zelda series done that's innovative, they are great games but nothing that was revolutionary?

The Legend of Zelda was the first game to have a save feature.

Miyamoto is great because he was able to take personal experience and create imaginative games out of them. Zelda came from his childhood adventures in the woods behind his home, Pikmin came from his love of gardening and Wii Music came from his new interest in music.

That's a piss take. A developer with one successful game ahead of people like Kojima, Yu Suzuki, Yasumi Matsuno, Garriot, Michel Ancel, Shafer...*litany of names slowly fades out*

Well deserved top spot for Miyamoto imo, although perhaps the other developers are only jealous of his ability to constantly be involved in pioneering technology in money-printing devices. I almost wish Cliffy B was in there, just to see the outrage it would provoke.

Does that guy do anything at all other then heading press conferences and receiving a lot of cash? Carmack should have been first for his actual achievements. There aren't many directors who actually outperform their employees when it comes to coding things.

Asehujiko:Does that guy do anything at all other then heading press conferences and receiving a lot of cash? Carmack should have been first for his actual achievements. There aren't many directors who actually outperform their employees when it comes to coding things.

Asehujiko:Does that guy do anything at all other then heading press conferences and receiving a lot of cash? Carmack should have been first for his actual achievements. There aren't many directors who actually outperform their employees when it comes to coding things.

Yes he does...Shigeru made what is the video game industry today.

By doing what exactly? All i can find about him the the fact that he came up with the concept of nintendogs and stamping on the homebrew community.

Asehujiko:Does that guy do anything at all other then heading press conferences and receiving a lot of cash? Carmack should have been first for his actual achievements. There aren't many directors who actually outperform their employees when it comes to coding things.

Yes he does...Shigeru made what is the video game industry today.

By doing what exactly? All i can find about him the the fact that he came up with the concept of nintendogs and stamping on the homebrew community.

The reason you are here today talking about video games its cause there was this japanese guy, more than 20 years ago created great games that made gaming a reliable industry. Shigeru Miyamoto is the Father of Modern Gaming.And he keeps re-inventing himself after all those years.

The same thing can't be said for Carmack that hasn't done anything "good" since Quake 2.

That's a piss take. A developer with one successful game ahead of people like Kojima, Yu Suzuki, Yasumi Matsuno, Garriot, Michel Ancel, Shafer...*litany of names slowly fades out*

I can actually see why he's on the list. He's basically the bedroom coder of this generation. Proof of what one guy without any company backing can do in an industry where games are usually made with dozens of people.

Miyamoto has a lot of the same things going for him. Proof of the power one man can have over an entire industry.

Asehujiko:Does that guy do anything at all other then heading press conferences and receiving a lot of cash? Carmack should have been first for his actual achievements. There aren't many directors who actually outperform their employees when it comes to coding things.

Yes he does...Shigeru made what is the video game industry today.

By doing what exactly? All i can find about him the the fact that he came up with the concept of nintendogs and stamping on the homebrew community.

The reason you are here today talking about video games its cause there was this japanese guy, more than 20 years ago created great games that made gaming a reliable industry. Shigeru Miyamoto is the Father of Modern Gaming.And he keeps re-inventing himself after all those years.

The same thing can't be said for Carmack that hasn't done anything "good" since Quake 2.

Quit the fanboyish overcapitalization. So far i haven't seen anything that says that Miyamoto does anything about his games at all other then stockbroking his way to richness without touching games at all except when demonstrating them at e3. Your ignorance also shows by forgetting things like z-fail stencil shadows and megatexture, things Carmack coded on his own, and not have it done by a huge team of underlings that then putting an "approved" stamp on it and saying "put it in the next mario/zelda/metroid".

Asehujiko:Does that guy do anything at all other then heading press conferences and receiving a lot of cash? Carmack should have been first for his actual achievements. There aren't many directors who actually outperform their employees when it comes to coding things.

Yes he does...Shigeru made what is the video game industry today.

By doing what exactly? All i can find about him the the fact that he came up with the concept of nintendogs and stamping on the homebrew community.

The reason you are here today talking about video games its cause there was this japanese guy, more than 20 years ago created great games that made gaming a reliable industry. Shigeru Miyamoto is the Father of Modern Gaming.And he keeps re-inventing himself after all those years.

The same thing can't be said for Carmack that hasn't done anything "good" since Quake 2.

Quit the fanboyish overcapitalization. So far i haven't seen anything that says that Miyamoto does anything about his games at all other then stockbroking his way to richness without touching games at all except when demonstrating them at e3. Your ignorance also shows by forgetting things like z-fail stencil shadows and megatexture, things Carmack coded on his own, and not have it done by a huge team of underlings that then putting an "approved" stamp on it and saying "put it in the next mario/zelda/metroid".

Is Carmack considered the Father of Modern gaming? No.

End of Discussion. Shigeru Miyamoto is the greatest developer in gaming and even Carmack will admit it.

I can actually see why he's on the list. He's basically the bedroom coder of this generation. Proof of what one guy without any company backing can do in an industry where usually made with dozens of people.

When you put it like that, I can see the appeal. Being a rich reclusive auteur, developing games at your own pace is surely what every game dev aspires to be.

Everyone loves miyamoto i bet there's one developer out there that can say one bad thing about him and he has made some great bounds for the video game industry so it's natural for developers to feel that way.

not a zaar:I can't believe that one guy actually called him "Miyamoto-san". What a weeabo Japanophile dickweed.

I'm sorry, but I had to lol at this post. You win an internet for making me shoot milk out of my nose. XD

Anyway, I'm not surprised that Miyamoto is the best known developer among these devs. I remember the old days of Super Nintendoland, when I was in the Dark World, saving the seven maidens from the clutches of Agahnim and Ganon. Whenever I played that game, I always felt like I should kiss Mister Miyamoto's shoes for such a wonderful game.

And then later Ocarina of Time came out. And I was in love all over again. Just the thought of Miyamoto helping to make this game series and MORE really does make him the pinnacle of awesome.

I even loved the Wind Waker! Even in the later years of the Gamecube, Miyamoto had it going on. This is why it pains me to see Nintendo crapping over his genius with unoriginal shovelware and cheap knockoff games that don't even deserve the pleasure of being in the same sentence as the classic games. If Miyamoto can redeem his game series with the new Zelda and Metroid, then I just might have some restored faith.

Asehujiko:Does that guy do anything at all other then heading press conferences and receiving a lot of cash? Carmack should have been first for his actual achievements. There aren't many directors who actually outperform their employees when it comes to coding things.

Yes he does...Shigeru made what is the video game industry today.

By doing what exactly? All i can find about him the the fact that he came up with the concept of nintendogs and stamping on the homebrew community.

The reason you are here today talking about video games its cause there was this japanese guy, more than 20 years ago created great games that made gaming a reliable industry. Shigeru Miyamoto is the Father of Modern Gaming.And he keeps re-inventing himself after all those years.

The same thing can't be said for Carmack that hasn't done anything "good" since Quake 2.

Quit the fanboyish overcapitalization. So far i haven't seen anything that says that Miyamoto does anything about his games at all other then stockbroking his way to richness without touching games at all except when demonstrating them at e3. Your ignorance also shows by forgetting things like z-fail stencil shadows and megatexture, things Carmack coded on his own, and not have it done by a huge team of underlings that then putting an "approved" stamp on it and saying "put it in the next mario/zelda/metroid".

You are aware that Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong (not Metroid, that was someone else) were his personal brain-children, right? As in, he personally created the originals and has been heavily involved in their successors.

People have to also recognize that one reason Miyamoto is popular isn't because of what he did, but what he's still doing. Miyamoto is the Japanese Midas. Pikmin, Wii Fit, Nintendogs, and other games I have never played managed to be incredibly popular. They might be games many of us don't like, but they help demonstrate the man's originality.

Asehujiko:Does that guy do anything at all other then heading press conferences and receiving a lot of cash? Carmack should have been first for his actual achievements. There aren't many directors who actually outperform their employees when it comes to coding things.

Yes he does...Shigeru made what is the video game industry today.

By doing what exactly? All i can find about him the the fact that he came up with the concept of nintendogs and stamping on the homebrew community.

He is the reason why we have video games consoles now . Without him, we wouldn't be gamers. We'd be uhh....Jehovah Witnesses.

He is the reason why we have video games. Nintendo,SEGA,SONY,PC,Xbox. Without him, we wouldn't be gamers. We'd be uhh....Jehovah Witnesses.

Uhhh... not quite. There were video games around before Nintendo was around, games after the great video game crash too if you dig around. Part of the reason why something like the VIC-20 or the C64 thrived was because, though they were sold as general use computers, everyone who got one got it for games.

He is the reason why we have video games. Nintendo,SEGA,SONY,PC,Xbox. Without him, we wouldn't be gamers. We'd be uhh....Jehovah Witnesses.

Uhhh... not quite. There were video games around before Nintendo was around, games after the great video game crash too if you dig around. Part of the reason why something like the VIC-20 or the C64 thrived was because, though it was sold as a general use computers, everyone got one for games.